Walmart Needs To Enforce Animal Policy

Posted Tue January 3, 2012 12:00 pm, by Norman P. written to Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart: I was shopping at your Rohnert park Ca. store this afternoon and had a discussion with management about dogs in the store. I understand that some disabled people have a legal right to have their dogs with them but they must have collars or vests stating such.

There was a woman there with a dog without a legal right (state law) to have the dog in a store where they serve food. The assistant mgr. I talked to said "it was Wal-Mart co. policy to let all people with dogs enter the store even without the required vests on the dogs that state law requires." Wal-Mart are you going to still break state laws and put your customers at health risks for profits only?

STOP YOUR POLICY OF LETTING ANYONE BRINGING THEIR DOGS AND PETS WHILE SHOPPING AT YOUR STORES UNLESS THEY HAVE THE PROPER IDENTIFICATION TO DO SO.

PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE THIS FOR YOU ARE BREAKING STATE HEALTH LAWS. (The State will be notified of your policy also.)

First, how can you say there was someone in walmart that clearlywasn't a service dog? The sites that claim to be registries are all ascam, in case you didn't know. I take my dog with me wheteever I gobecause she is my service animal. Not once in the 3 months I've hadher, have I been told to leave a store. All I need is documentationfrom my psychotrist. My dog does not batk, or harm anyone. As a matterof fact, shes put smiles on people that normally would not be having agood day. Please do your homework before putting misleading info outthere.

Their policy is that they have to ask the person if the dog is usedfor a disability. Anyone can say yes and in doing so Walmart cant doanything about it. It is in their policy. Apply for a job there and gothriugh training youll learn all about their service and esa animalspolicy.

There is no legally recognized certification or identification forservice dogs. Some companies sell IDs but they are only individualcompanies with no legal value.

No public building staff can ask for IDs and it is actually illegal todo so. You can only ask if the dog is a service dog and what duty hedoes for the disabled individual. That's it.

You have to take a persons word according to ADA laws. They do nothave to have a vest or ID. That's the law. Not a store police. Thedisabled do not even have to show what the dog does for them.

I don't like scammers either but there is nothing you can do. Try tonotify the state. You will be told the same. You will find that youare invading the privacy of a disabled person to ask for anything. Thedisabled have privacy rights you can't ignore just because you wantto.

Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained todo work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples ofsuch work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alertingpeople who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting aperson who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illnessto take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post TraumaticStress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing otherduties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work ortask a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to thepersonís disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort oremotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.

see above....I would suggest that 90% of the dogs that walmart and thelike are allowing DO NOT qualify under the ADA

When it is not obvious what service an animal provides, only limitedinquiries are allowed. Staff may ask two questions: (1) is the dog aservice animal required because of a disability, and (2) what work ortask has the dog been trained to perform.

this is what the ADA reads. and I would like to have walmart askthese two questions...these old people in florida that bring their toydogs and pluck them in the cart and out and out LIE to the people atthe door. I have called out more than one person and theyleft....again I don't want my food in a cart that someone's pet hasbeen in.....service dogs DO NOT ride in carts the must be leashed....here again is what the ADA states
Under the ADA, service animals must be harnessed, leashed, ortethered, unless these devices interfere with the service animalíswork or the individualís disability prevents using these devices. Inthat case, the individual must maintain control of the animal throughvoice, signal, or other effective controls.

s stated before, a service dog requires NO documentation or specificvest, so that cannot be required. Also, emotional support animals areNOT service dogs and may not legally accompany their owner anywhere.Service dogs must be individually trained to help an owner with aDISABILITY. This means they must perform TASKS that help the person dosomething the person cannot do because of a disability. Just providingemotional support is not considered a task by the ADA. Service dogscan and do provide emotional support, but they also do other thingssuch as lead a blind person, alert a dead person to sounds, alert anepileptic about an impending siesure, lead a person with an anxietydisorder out of a crowd during a panic attack, etc. These are justsome examples and it can be for any disabling condition. It also canbe any dog, as long as it is not disruptive and does not fundamentallyalter the business such as being in a surgical room (but not a foodstore). Also, regarding what a person can and cannot ask: someone canask "Do you require a service animal due to a disability?" But theymay not inquire about what the disability is. They may also ask, "Whatdoes this dog due to help your disability?" The person does not haveto say what disability they have, but they must state what tasks theirdog performs. This is just how the law is, I didn't make it up, butplease follow it.

I'm not a dog person, but I would rather see a dog in a store thanlocked in a hot car. I saw a dog locked in a car in 80 degree weatherwith the window only open a crack. If people MUST take a dog to astore (which I don't see a purpose for, if someone needs that muchemotional support from a pet, then they have problems)then theyshouldn't get mad when they are asked to leave. It irks me too, but Ijust let it go. The dogs I have seen in stores are usually wellbehaved.

I'll say it again. Dogs don't want to go shopping! They want to go fora walk (not in a store). The only store I take Chynna to is PetValu.The ligition involved, if someone bit, would be twofold. Walmartand the dog's owner. Dogs don't belong in a store unless they are aservice animal.

Under the federal ADA (Americians with Disabilities Act) an anybusiness open to the public is allowed ONLY to ask if an animal is aservice animal. That is it. If the owner replies yes then the animal,which may or may not be collared, taged, wearing a harness, certifiedor licenced is allowed to accompany its owner into any part of thebusiness which is normally open to the public. The ADA laws takepriority over any state, county or city law or ordinance, to includethe health department.

The business is also not allowed to deny access due to the animal,increase prices to cover the cost of cleaning up after the animal,seperate the owner of the animal from other customers due to theanimals presence. Legally that animal is not a pet; hence it cannot beprevented from entering a business under a "no pet" policy. You cannotban or control a service animal any more then you could ban a blindmans cane because legally there is no difference between them.

The ONLY way a service animal can be removed from a place of businessis if the animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of yourother customers (growling or biting), or if the animal is actively

What it's all been watered down to these days is that if you love yourdog (makes you happy) it then supplies your "emotional needs",therefore it is a "service dog" and allowed to pee and poop and wipeit's poopy paws on everyone's baskets as well as shed it's fur to allthose that are allergic to dogs. I know someone who loves their dog(not a service dog) so much they merely bought a service dog vest overthe internet and take it eveywhere now. Sicko's win yet again in ableeding heart society.

Funny thing about Servive animals (especially dogs and cats), there issomething called an Emotional Support Animal and they do not have aspecial vest or anything AND THEY ARE CONSIDERED SERVICE ANIMALS.
All that is needed is a note from a mental health specialist that isno less then 1 year old.

In the laws you posted, nowhere do I see the word Vest. I see tags,and just so we are clear, tags=/= vests. However, that is besides thepoint. Service animals generally are very well trained. Even if theyare in a restaurant, they generally do not go into the kitchen. Theonly food in risk of 'contamination' is the food of the person theyare with.

As for your arguments about the law (which apparently you do notunderstand as you have somehow interpreted tag to = vest) stickingyour fingers in your ears and repeating the same thing over and overdoes not make it true.

I am going to have my psychiatrist state that I need my dog with me aspart of my therapy...doctors will write a note/perscription for justabout anything you want as long as you pay them. Them I will goonline and purchase an orange vest, which admittedly is not hercolor.

Why don't they allow the vests in different colors? I need to call myCongressman and suggest that. I imagine they are also a nasty meshmaterial, yuck! I mean orange is okay in the fall but even then I'dprefer a nice burgundy or green to bring out her lovely eyes.

Ah well the things I do to upset people and bombard them with unduestress:)

I am a retail manager in California. I have been through numeroushealth inspections. I have, more than once, asked the health deptemployee how they advise us to handle the dog situation. Every singletime the advice is the same - politely inform the customer with thedog that we only allow service animals - if they say the animal is aservice animal, leave it alone. Asking even "is that a serviceanimal" could be perceived as asking "are you disabled" which isreally not my business.

They are not required to provide any sort of identification to provethe animal is a service one and we do not ask.

If an animal is unruly, even a service animal (and I have never seenone who is) they can be asked to leave.

I am a dog owner and have a pretty cool dog at that. I don't take himshopping withme though, and don't really understand the people thatdo. I aslo don't really understand or appreciate the customers whomake asumptions about whether or not I, or my team, are doing our jobcorrectly when they suspect an
"unauthorized" animal is in the building.

6-501.115 Prohibiting Animals.
(A) Except as specified in ∂∂ (B) and (C) of this section, liveanimals may not be allowed on the premises of a food establishment. Pf

(B) Live animals may be allowed in the following situations if thecontamination of food; clean equipment, utensils, and linens; andunwrapped single-service and single-use articles can not result:
(1) Edible fish or decorative fish in aquariums, shellfish orcrustacea on ice or under refrigeration, and shellfish and crustaceain display tank systems;
(2) Patrol dogs accompanying police or security officers in officesand dining, sales, and storage areas, and sentry dogs running loose inoutside fenced areas;
(3) In areas that are not used for food preparation and that areusually open for customers, such as dining and sales areas, serviceanimals that are controlled by the disabled employee or person, if ahealth or safety hazard will not result from the presence oractivities of the service animal;
(4) Pets in the common dining areas of institutional care facilitiessuch as nursing homes, assisted living facilities, group homes, orresidential care facilities at times other than during meals if:
(a) Effective partitioning and self-closing doors separate the commondining areas from food storage or food preparation areas,
(b) Condiments, equipment, and utensils are stored in enclosedcabinets or removed from the common dining areas when pets arepresent, and
(c) Dining areas including tables, countertops, and similar surfacesare effectively cleaned before the next meal service; and
(5) In areas that are not used for food preparation, storage, sales,display, or dining, in which there are caged animals or animals thatare similarly confined, such as in a variety store that sells pets ora tourist park that displays animals.
(C) Live or dead fish bait may be stored if contamination of food;clean equipment, utensils, and linens; and unwrapped single-serviceand single-use articles can not result.
- -

It's just a DOG in a store. It's not like the canine is urinating onthe food items before people eat them or something (that'd beinteresting to see considering food items in WalMart are all too highfor a dog to reach, much less pee on).

Actually, from my own research on this (based on pastletters/discussions at this site), no such documentation is required. A store employee/manager may ask the customer to remove the animal,and if the customer says that the dog is for a disability, theemployee is not legally allowed to ask for or push for additionalinformation or proof of any kind.

Where is this law? I would love to see it. Trust me, we have peoplebringing their mangy stinky dogs in all the time and we were toldthere was nothing we could do about it. As long as they claim it's aservice dog, we can't do a thing about it.

And heck, you can get a "service" dog for just about anything thesedays....